I grinned at her. “You look pretty hot yourself.”
“You, crazy person, you. Of course, I don’t. I’m in my ugly old uniform,” she scolded as she slapped me across my arm.
I pulled her into a tight hug. Her lavender bob smelt familiar and returned to me a sense of security and peace. I really had missed her and it felt so good to see and hold her again. The restaurant was only a couple of shops away so we strolled towards it while we chatted.
“So are you going to tell me where you got the coat from?”
“It was brought to me by a stylist Luca Messana hired to dress me.”
She stopped mid-stride. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
I stopped too and nodded. “Yeah. They live in a completely different world from us, Katie.”
“I bet they do. Come on. Let’s go sit down and you can tell me everything.”
We were taken to our table by a friendly waitress. She gave us menus and hurried off. Instantly, Katie honed in on me. “Come on then. What’s going on. You look fabulous, but you sounded so strange and tense on the phone. Tell me what the hell is going on?” she asked.
“I will once we order.” I passed her a sealed bottle of water and she accepted it.
She lifted the bottle to her lips, and took a long drink. “I ran all the way over here, so this better be some sort of real emergency.”
“It is,” I said with a smile.
Her gaze narrowed as she searched in mine for any trace of mischief. Just then a waiter arrived at our table. I ordered a glass of white wine and she settled for a Coke since she had to get back to work. The waiter went away and I turned to Katie. She was staring at me. I pushed the menu at her.
“Get whatever you want,” I told her. “It’s Luca Messana’s treat.”
She raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I found some extra dollars in my bank account yesterday.”
Her eyes widened dramatically. “How much?”
I lowered my voice. “Twenty freaking thousand.”
“Whoa!”
“Yup, and this is also for you.” I pushed her present towards her.
She grabbed the bag eagerly. “What is it?”
I didn’t need to say anything. I just watched as she tore the wrapping paper with the eagerness of a child and gasped in wonder at her gift.
“Oh, my God! I can’t believe it. It’s a classic Burberry jacket.” She pulled it out and gazed at it in disbelief. “It’s gorgeous, Skye. It’s exactly what I’ve been lusting after for years.”
“Don’t I know it,” I agreed with a laugh.
She looked up. “Oh, Skye. I can’t accept this. It must have cost thousands.”
“Well, it didn’t cost me anything. As I mentioned Luca got a stylist to get me a whole designer wardrobe. One, I might add, I will hardly be able to use once I go back to my old life of being a waitress.”
She looked down at the jacket again. “But wouldn’t you like to keep this for yourself though?”
“No, not at all. As soon as I saw it hanging on the rack I decided it was yours. I’m not such a big fan of Burberry anyway.”
“Yeah, you’re a fan of Target,” she said dryly.
“What’s wrong with Target?”
“If you have to ask that, there is no point.” Then she reached out and curled her hand around mine. “Thank you, Skye. It’s an amazing present.”
“I’m glad you like it. Now what are you going to eat? I’m having the spaghetti with lobster.”
Katie’s eyes widened. The price of the meal at forty-eight dollars was absolutely extravagant by our standards. Then she grinned. “Twenty thousand, did you say?”
I giggled. “I did.”
“Alright, I’ll have the same. I’ve always wanted to try that dish.”
“Forget me drinking by myself we should have a bottle of wine to go with it, shouldn’t we?”
Her eyes twinkled mischievously. “Yes, lets. It’s not the end of the world if I go back a little sloshed. I don’t have anything too important to do today.”
The waiter came and took our order.
“Before I forget,” she said, as he went away. “I met Diana the other day and she said she was trying to reach you.”
I was surprised at the mention of my stepsister. “She was trying to reach me?”
“Yup. She was actually quite friendly. Tried to find out if I had seen you recently.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Relax. I didn’t tell her anything, but you should call her.”
I sighed. I could feel my appetite leaving at the thought of calling her, so I pushed it out of mind, and refocused on Katie. I saw precious little of Katie and I wasn’t going to let Diana spoil my lunch with my bestie.
The wine came and we toasted each other and took a sip. I had ordered their most expensive and it was delicious and cool on my tongue.